


A Place To Think

by M_W101



Category: New Amsterdam (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Before the blackout eps, Domestic, F/M, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 02:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18459338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_W101/pseuds/M_W101
Summary: Max has a chat with Iggy and finds some unexpected wisdom from the psychiatrist. Helen puts her foot down with a particular patient.





	A Place To Think

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing for New Amsterdam! I’ve been working on this general idea since before the show went on hiatus last month but only just kind of delved into it in the last week or so. Here goes!

In a hospital as hectic and fully flowing as New Amsterdam, moments of peace and serenity can be a rare occurrence. Just about any doctor, surgeon or consultant would testify to that fact. It’s what one might call an occupational hazard. True for no one more than Max Goodwin. 

Being a medical director was a guaranteed test of patience and willpower in any hospital but New Amsterdam was a whole other challenge. Despite the influx of patients that passed through the walls of New Amsterdam every day, the fact remained that it was a public and by default, underfunded establishment.

The chance for an escape from the madness of being Max Goodwin M.D. would always lead to the roof. The view over the city would never fail to lend perspective in the moments when it was most needed. More of those moments seemed to present themselves just recently.

The whole situation with Helen wasn’t exactly doing much to make things any clearer. If anything, it was just clouding everything that bit more. The occasions when they were in each other’s company had gone from an enjoyable environment to downright awkward and unhelpful interaction.

Max’s thoughts were quickly snapped back to reality by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind.

“Oh sorry, I hope I’m not disturbing anything” Iggy mused as he stopped in his tracks.

Max offered a friendly smile “not at all, how can I help?” 

“Oh no no I don’t actually need anything” Iggy replied as he shook his head with some enthusiasm “I just thought I’d take five minutes, you know? It’s been a hell of a day”

Max could relate all too much. He’d had a  _lot_ of those days and that was without the cancer being an additional pain in the ass. Days where he’d have happily thrown in the towel at the first hurdle.

Iggy sighed “anyway never mind about me, what brings you up here?”

Max glanced at Iggy, doing his best to remain neutral and professional. He’d never really been the type to open up unless he absolutely had to, and even then he was still reluctant.

“I like the view” he replied, still with a smile on his face “it’s calming....tranquil”

Iggy nodded in agreement. The view was quite spectacular indeed, from one side you could see the entirety of the Hudson, the other offered a panoramic view of the city.

“It’s certainly somethin’” he remarked.

Silence reigned the air for a moment, Max almost expected it to be broken the by the sound of his pager but no such sound came.

“So erm how is that young girl getting on in her new home?” he queried “Jemma, right?”

Iggy smiled as he tucked into a bag of salted potato chips, pausing after the first mouthful.

“Yeah she’s doing great from what Blanca tells me. I’m just glad she’s found a home where she feels genuinely safe and cared for, for the first time. God knows she’s needed stability like that for the longest time”

It’s no secret to anyone that’s ever worked with Iggy Frome, he’s a man that truly does care and strives beyond the parameters to get the very best results he can for his patients. Few and far between are doctors as passionate about the wellbeing of others in the same way as Iggy.

Max smiled briefly, admiring the will & determination of his colleague but he was broken away from his admiration to the realisation that he was being paged to the ED.

“Well duty calls”  ___________________________________________

There was barely time for Max to get his bearings, rushing through the doors into the emergency department and finding himself in the middle of utter chaos. Beds filled with agitated and unsettled patients, doctors strewn about the department, overworked and under-resourced.

“Max!” Helen called from across the floor, gesturing for him to join her.

Max gave his usual smile despite the clear awkwardness between the two of them in attempt to retain common ground. The last thing he wanted was a damaged professional relationship with the woman who was going to be treating his cancer.

“How can I help?”

Helen frowned “Max you’re supposed to be having a chemo session right now, do you want to tell me why you’re here instead of there?”

“Really...” Max sighed “you sent me a page, leading me to believe that I was needed urgently to assist you with a patient just to berate me for putting patient welfare before myself?”

“Max you are the patient! You are my patient!”

Helen might as well have been putting on a performance, half the ED had fallen silent and had their attention focused on the available spectacle.

Max wasn’t one to make a scene and immediately turned on his heels, heading as quickly in the opposite direction to Sharpe as his feet would take him. It was enough that his colleagues knew of his condition but he was sure that by lunch time, half of New Amsterdam would know that their medical director was in a particularly bad way.

“Max you can’t keep ignoring this” Helen’s voice seemed to follow him the further he walked despite his best efforts to concentrate on anything other than her.

_“What about Georgia and your baby?”_

Max froze almost to the spot. Helen might as well have punched him in the stomach with the force that her words struck him. The worst part was that she was right. It was like a tug of war between trying to be a good doctor and a good husband. Where does one draw the line?

“Fine” he conceded heavily, she’d delivered the hard truth after all. There was little point in trying to come up with an excuse beyond it.

“I’m not here to make your life difficult Max, I don’t want to drag you away from being a doctor because you’re a bloody good doctor but you need to allow yourself to delegate so that you can carry on being the very best doctor that you can be for those patients. For once, let it be you that receives the help that you’re always giving”

Max smiled, knowing that despite her nagging him, Helen only had his best interests at heart and that ultimately, she wanted to help him fight the cancer for himself, for Georgia and for the child that he’d soon be a father to.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked it. Feel free to leave comments and let me know if you’d want to see more. I’ve got a few ideas brewing for Kapoor, Bloom and Reynolds and obviously more Sharpwin because who doesn’t love angsty awkward fluff between doctors?


End file.
